(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing unit and information processing system, suitable for use in various information processing using Christian calendar year/date information, a method of correcting abnormality of Christian calendar year in the information processing unit, and a computer readable record medium in which is recorded a Christian calendar year abnormality correction program.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Up to now, information processing units have held date information and Christian calendar year information for use in information processing, although the Christian calendar year information has been often managed merely in lower two digits in such an information processing system that manages collectively file data usable and shared by a plurality of information processing units.
This aims to reduce information redundancy through management of the lower two digits only, since upper two digits of the Christian calendar year information will not change until the year 2000 arrives.
In other words, the above information processing unit or information processing system makes use of lower-two-digit Christian calendar year information to retain data in a file or to execute application processing, thereby achieving an effective resource utilization in both hardware and software.
According as the Christian calendar year approaches the year 2000, however, it has proved to be impossible to judge a difference between the year 1900 and the year 2000 from the above-described two-digit Christian calendar year management, so that any measures are desired which allow for both hardware and software of the information processing system.
In case of hardware specifications allowing automatic count of lower-two-digit only Christian calendar year information by a real time clock, it is possible for the unit with a CMOS (a buffer which saves data even in the event of the electrical source being cut off) in which xe2x80x9c19xe2x80x9d has been set fixedly as upper two digits to have accurate Christian calendar year information as long as the year 2000 is not reached, but impossible to distinguish between the year 2000 and the year 1900 since the intra-unit Christian calendar year information returns to the year 1900 once the Christian calendar year has reached the year 2000.
Thus, year 2005 information for instance will undesirably be registered as year 1905 information. In this case, any attempt to retrieve information indicative of the year 2005 may result in vain. Also, in case of deleting files having as their keys Christian calendar year comparison or Christian calendar year information through application processing, files undesired to delete may be deleted or files to be deleted may not be deleted because of the use of lower two digits only or erroneous Christian calendar year information as their keys.
In other words, it would be difficult for the user to discriminate from the data itself whether the Christian calendar year information is erroneous or not, so that files using Christian calendar year information as their keys may disappear or files desired to retrieve may not be retrieved the instant that the year 2000 has been reached in spite of ordinary use posing no problem.
In addition, in cases where software is employed to assist the hardware specifications, it would actually be difficult to deal with all the models. There are even cases where erroneous assist would occur.
In order to solve the above problems, at present an alarm may be issued or the software may be amended. However, in amending the software, there may also be a situation where it is actually necessary to completely revise the software installed in the hardware constituting the computer system.
In such an information processing system that includes a server unit accommodating a plurality of client units, with the continued advancement of the information processing system networking, the data management technique is shifting from one in which data are collectively managed at a single site (on the server unit side) toward one in which data are managed in each client unit in a decentralized manner. If each of the client units is located at the sites having different standard times, it is also necessary to adjust accordingly the time generated by a real time clock (RTC) of each client unit.
The present invention was conceived in view of the above problems. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an information processing unit capable of distinguishing between the year 1900 and the year 2000 even through software and hardware-based Christian calendar year information management in lower two digits, not four digits, a method of correcting abnormal Christian calendar year in the information processing unit, and a computer readable record medium having a Christian calendar year abnormality correction program recorded therein.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an information processing system consisting of a plurality of information processing units arranged at sites having different reference times, the system enabling the time management to be universally performed in conformity with the reference times at sites where the information processing units are arranged, while distinguishing between the year 1900 and the year 2000 in the same manner as the above case.
To this end, according to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided an information processing unit comprising a memory part for storing in a file format therein information processing data containing Christian calendar year information having first number of digits; an application processing part for executing application processing by use of Christian calendar year information having second number of digits, of the Christian calendar year information having first number of digits contained in the data stored in the memory part; and a file access control part for writing/reading file format data to/from the memory part in response to a request from the application processing part; the file access control part including a judgment part which upon a receipt of a request to read Christian calendar year information within a file stored in the memory part from the application processing unit, judges whether the Christian calendar year information in the memory part indicates a predetermined Christian calendar year onward; and a read Christian calendar year information output part which when it is judged in the judgment part that the Christian calendar year information indicates the predetermined Christian calendar year onward, generates Christian calendar year information having identification information indicative of that fact, to output it as read Christian calendar year information.
In this case, the predetermined Christian calendar year can be the year 2000. The Christian calendar year information having first number of digits may be four-digit Christian calendar year information, and the Christian calendar year information having second number of digits may be Christian calendar year information having second number of digits of said four-digit Christian calendar year information.
A restoration processing part may be provided which when the identification information is contained in Christian calendar year information constituting file format data in the memory part read by the application processing part, restores said Christian calendar year information into Christian calendar year information having first number of digits through interrupt processing, whereby it is possible even in the event of only lower-two-digit management of Christian calendar year information to distinguish between the year 1900 and a predetermined Christian calendar year.
The read Christian calendar year information output part may include a first read processing part for imparting the identification information to Christian calendar year information having second number of digits, of Christian calendar year information having first number of digits within a file subjected to the read request, to output it as the read Christian calendar year information; and a first storage processing part for correlating at least upper-two-digit Christian calendar year information constituting the Christian calendar year information with file format data subjected to the read request, to store into a predetermined storage area.
Furthermore, the read Christian calendar year information output part may include a first conversion part for converting upper-two-digit Christian calendar year information of Christian calendar year information having first number of digits within a file subjected to the read request, into information containing the identification information; a second read processing part for outputting Christian calendar year information converted by the first conversion part, as Christian calendar year information constituting file format data subjected to the read request, to the application processing part; and a second storage processing part for correlating Christian calendar year information having at least second number of digits, with Christian calendar year information subjected to the read request, to store it into a predetermined storage area.
Alternatively, the read Christian calendar year information output unit may include a second conversion part for converting Christian calendar year information having first number of digits within a file subjected to the read request, into two-digit information containing the identification information; and a third read processing part for outputting Christian calendar year information converted by the second conversion part, as Christian calendar year information constituting file format data subjected to the read request, to the application processing part.
Thus, according to the present invention, by virtue of the provision of the file access control part and the restoration processing part, when the Christian calendar year information within a file or imparted to the file is managed in four digit and the Christian calendar year information for application processing is processed in two digits, it is possible for the application processing part to distinguish between the year 2000 and the year 1900 while performing the application processing using lower-two-digit Christian calendar year information, thus advantageously making it possible to use intactly lower-two-digit data in the application software which has been hitherto used, without any alteration, even after the year 2000 has arrived.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing unit comprising a Christian calendar year information generation part for generating most recent Christian calendar year information; a memory part for storing in a file format therein data containing two-digit Christian calendar year information from the Christian calendar year information generation part; an application processing part for executing application processing by use of Christian calendar year information having first number of digits, together with the data stored in the memory part; and a file access control part for writing/reading file format data to/from the memory part in response to a request from the application processing unit; the file access control part including a judgment part which upon a receipt of a request to write Christian calendar year information having first number of digits generated by the Christian calendar year information generation part from the application processing part, judges whether the Christian calendar year information having first number of digits indicates a predetermined Christian calendar year onward; and a write Christian calendar year information output part which when it is judged in the judgment part that the Christian calendar year information having first number of digits indicates a predetermined Christian calendar year onward, generates Christian calendar year information having identification information indicative of that fact, to output it as write Christian calendar year information.
In this case, the predetermined Christian calendar year can be the year 2000. The Christian calendar year information having first number of digits may be four-digit Christian calendar year information, and the Christian calendar year information having second number of digits may be Christian calendar year information having second number of digits of said four-digit Christian calendar year information.
A restoration processing part may be provided which when the identification information is contained in Christian calendar year information constituting file format data in the memory part read by the application processing part, restores said Christian calendar year information into Christian calendar year information having first number of digits through interrupt processing, whereby it is possible even in the event of only lower-two-digit management of Christian calendar year information to distinguish between the year 1900 and a predetermined Christian calendar year.
Thus, according to the present invention, by virtue of the provision of the file access control part and the restoration processing part, when the Christian calendar year information within a file or imparted to the file is managed in four digit and the Christian calendar year information for application processing is processed in two digits, it is possible for the application processing part to distinguish between the year 2000 and the year 1900 while performing the application processing using lower-two-digit Christian calendar year information, thus advantageously making it possible to use intactly lower-two-digit data in the application software which has been hitherto used, without any alteration, even after the year 2000 has arrived.
In this case, the write Christian calendar year information output part may include a first write processing part for imparting the identification information to Christian calendar year information having second number of digits, of the Christian calendar year information having first number of digits, to output it as the write Christian calendar year information; and a third storage processing part for correlating at least upper-two-digit Christian calendar year information constituting the Christian calendar year information with file format data subjected to the write request, to store it into a predetermined storage area.
The write Christian calendar year information output part may also include a third conversion part for converting upper-two-digit Christian calendar year information of the Christian calendar year information having first number of digits into information containing the identification information; a second write processing part for writing Christian calendar year information converted by the third conversion part to the memory; and a fourth storage processing part for correlating Christian calendar year information having at least second number of digits constituting the Christian calendar year information with Christian calendar year information subjected to the write request, to store it into a predetermined storage area.
Furthermore, the write Christian calendar year information output part may include a fourth conversion part for converting the Christian calendar year information into two-digit Christian calendar year information containing the identification information; and a third write processing part for writing Christian calendar year information converted by the fourth conversion part to the memory part.
Thus, according to the present invention, by virtue of the provision of the file access control part and the restoration processing part, when Christian calendar year information within a file or imparted to the file is managed in two digits and Christian calendar year information for application processing is processed in four digits, it is possible for the application processing part to process lower-two-digit Christian calendar year information written to the file while distinguishing between the year 2000 and the year 1900, thereby advantageously making it possible to use intactly the application software which has been hitherto used, without any alteration, even after the year 2000 has been reached.
In the information processing unit of the present invention described above, the Christian calendar year information generating unit may generate date information in addition to the Christian calendar year information, and a supervisory correction part may be provided for fetching Christian calendar year/date information as reference time and supervising on the basis of the reference time abnormality in Christian calendar year/date information generated by the Christian calendar year information generation part to automatically correct it, if any.
In this case, the supervisory correction part may fetch reference time for each country and supervise on the basis of the reference time for each country, abnormality in the Christian calendar year/date information generated by the Christian calendar year information generation part, to automatically correct it if any. The supervisory correction part may lie on a network.
Thus, according to the present invention, it is possible for the reference time posting unit to supervise Christian calendar year/date information generated by Christian calendar year/date information generating part of an information processing unit, to post for correction the client unit on periodic abnormality in Christian calendar year/date information which is expected to occur in advance, thereby making it possible to deal with not only the so-called year 2000 problem and the leap problem but also with the correction for summer time or winter time on country-to-country or state-to-state basis, without becoming conscious of the unit hardware specifications, software versions, etc., as well as ensuring, even when the user uses an information processing unit while moving frequently between sites having different standard time, an easy time control in conformity with the standard time at that site (in respective countries).
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing unit having a Christian calendar year/date information generation part for generating most recent Christian calendar year/date information on the basis of an internal clock, and a processing part for accessing the Christian calendar year/date information generation part to fetch current Christian calendar year/date information for desired information processing; the information processing unit comprising a standard time generating unit for generating standard time; a comparison circuit which when in the processing part there occurs an access to the Christian calendar year information generation part, compares standard time fetched form the standard time generating unit with Christian calendar year/date information generated by the Christian calendar year/date information generation part; and a gate circuit which on the basis of the result of comparison by the comparison circuit, sets the result of access of the processing part to the Christian calendar year/date information generation part, to post the processing unit.
Thus, according to the present invention, provision of the comparison circuit and correction circuit makes it possible when the processing unit gains access to the Christian calendar year/date information generating unit to provide as access result the time information corrected to have accurate time based on the standard time while apparently using the Christian calendar year/date information generating unit, so that a system accurately conscious of Christian calendar year, date and time can be operated through the automatic correction in case of occurrence of abnormality in the Christian calendar year/date information generated by the Christian calendar year/date information generating unit. In particular, this will contribute to execution of data processing and data compensation by making use of accurate time, and further to prevention of any breakage of a file attributable to time.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing system comprising a plurality of information processing units each having a memory part for storing in a file format therein data containing Christian calendar year/date information, an application processing part for executing application processing by use of file format data stored in the memory part, a Christian calendar year/date information generation part for generating most recent Christian calendar year/date information, and a file access control part which in response to a request from the application processing part, writes to the memory part file format data containing Christian calendar year/date information from the Christian calendar year/date information generation part, and which reads from the memory part file format data containing Christian calendar year/date information; and a reference time posting unit which fetches Christian calendar year/date information as reference time, and which on the basis of the Christian calendar year/date information as the reference time, generates information for supervising abnormality in Christian calendar year/date information generated by the Christian calendar year/date information generation part of the each information processing unit and for automatic correction to post each information processing unit; the file access control part of each of the information processing units including a judgment part which upon a receipt of a request to read Christian calendar year/date information within a file stored in the memory part from the application processing unit, judges whether the Christian calendar year/date information in the memory part indicates a predetermined Christian calendar year onward; and a Christian calendar year/date information generating part which when it is judged in the judgment part that the Christian calendar year/date information indicates the predetermined Christian calendar year onward, generates Christian calendar year/date information having identification information indicative of that fact, to output it as read Christian calendar year/date information; and each of the information processing units including a restoration processing part which when the identification information is contained in Christian calendar year/date information constituting file format data in the memory part read by the application processing part, restores the Christian calendar year/date information into four-digit Christian calendar year/date information through interrupt processing. The predetermined Christian calendar year can be the year 2000.
In this case, the reference time on which the reference time posting unit posts each information processing unit may correspond to reference time of a country where each information processing unit is located.
Furthermore, the reference time posting unit may include an abnormality occurrence timing storage part in which is previously stored timing information at which abnormality occurs in Christian calendar year/date information generated by the Christian calendar year/date information generation part of each of the information processing units, so that abnormality in Christian calendar year/date information generated by the Christian calendar year/date information generation part can be supervised and automatically corrected on the timing information stored in the abnormality occurrence timing storage part.
Thus, according to the present invention, it is possible for the reference time posting unit to supervise Christian calendar year/date information generated by Christian calendar year/date information generating part of an information processing unit, to post for correction the client unit on periodic abnormality in Christian calendar year/date information which is expected to occur in advance, thereby making it possible to deal with not only the so-called year 2000 problem and the leap problem but also with the correction for summer time or winter time on country-to-country or state-to-state basis, without becoming conscious of the unit hardware specifications, software versions, etc., as well as ensuring, even when the user uses an information processing unit while moving frequently between sites having different standard time, an easy time control in conformity with the standard time at that site (in respective countries).
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of correcting abnormality of Christian calendar year information in an information processing unit, upon execution of application processing by use of Christian calendar year information together with data constituting a file stored in a memory in the information processing unit, in order to correct abnormality of Christian calendar year information recognized through the application processing and of Christian calendar year information stored in the memory, the method comprising a judgment step for judging, upon a receipt of a request to read Christian calendar year information within a file stored in the memory from the application processing, whether the Christian calendar year information indicates a predetermined Christian calendar year onward in the memory; a read Christian calendar year information output step for generating, when it is judged in the judgment step that the Christian calendar year information indicates a predetermined Christian calendar year onward, Christian calendar year information having identification information indicative of that fact, to output it as read Christian calendar year information; and a restoration step for restoring, when there occurs an interrupt due to the identification information in the application processing, Christian calendar year information having the identification information into original four-digit Christian calendar year information, to correct abnormality of Christian calendar year information for return to the application processing.
In this case also, the above predetermined Christian calendar year can be the year 2000.
Thus, according to the present invention, in cases where Christian calendar year information within a file or imparted to the file is managed in four digits and Christian calendar year information for application processing is processed in two digits, it is possible for the application processing part to distinguish between the year 2000 and the year 1900 while performing the application processing using lower-two-digit Christian calendar year information, thus advantageously making it possible to use intactly lower-two-digit data in the application software which has been hitherto used, without any alteration, even after the year 2000 has been reached.
Alternatively, in cases where when the Christian calendar year information within a file or imparted to the file is managed in two digits and the Christian calendar year information for the application processing is processed in four digits, it is possible for the application processing part to process lower-two-digit Christian calendar year information written to the file while distinguishing between the year 2000 and the year 1900, thereby making it possible to use application software which has hitherto been used as it is without any alteration even after the year 2000 has been reached.
Furthermore, it is possible to supervise Christian calendar year/date information generated by Christian calendar year/date information generating part of an information processing unit, to post for correction the client unit on periodic abnormality in Christian calendar year/date information which is expected to occur in advance, thereby making it possible to deal with not only the so-called year 2000 problem and the leap problem but also with the correction for summer time or winter time on country-to-country or state-to-state basis, without becoming conscious of the unit hardware specifications, software versions, etc., as well as ensuring, even when the user uses an information processing unit while moving frequently between sites having different standard time, an easy time control in conformity with the standard time at that site (in respective countries).
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer readable record medium having a Christian calendar year abnormality correction program recorded therein, wherein recorded in a computer is a Christian calendar year abnormality correction program for implementing a judgment function for judging, upon a receipt of a request to read Christian calendar year information within a file stored in a memory from an application processing function, whether the Christian calendar year information indicates a predetermined Christian calendar year onward in the memory; a read Christian calendar year information output function for generating, when it is judged in the judgment function that the Christian calendar year information indicates a predetermined Christian calendar year onward, Christian calendar year information having identification information indicative of that fact, to output it as read Christian calendar year information; and a restoration function for restoring, when there occurs an interrupt due to the identification information by the application processing function, Christian calendar year information having the identification information into original four-digit Christian calendar year information, to return it to the application processing function.
Thus, according to the present invention, the computer is allowed to implement the judgment function, read Christian calendar year information output function, and restoration function, so that in cases where Christian calendar year information within a file or imparted to the file is managed in four digits and Christian calendar year information for application processing is processed in two digits, it is possible for the application processing part to distinguish between the year 2000 and the year 1900 while performing the application processing using lower-two-digit Christian calendar year information, thus advantageously making it possible to use intactly lower-two-digit data in the application software which has been hitherto used, without any alteration, even after the year 2000 has been reached.
Alternatively, in cases where when the Christian calendar year information within a file or imparted to the file is managed in two digits and the Christian calendar year information for the application processing is processed in four digits, it is possible for the application processing part to process lower-two-digit Christian calendar year information written to the file while distinguishing between the year 2000 and the year 1900, thereby making it possible to use application software which has hitherto been used as it is without any alteration even after the year 2000 has arrived.